Do You Realize?

[Super Llama†]

A 13-year-old Duncan made his way down the stairs as he heard the doorbell. Making his way through the living room, he passed by his younger sister, who hardly seemed to acknowledge his presence at all as she sat on the couch watching Spongebob Squarepants. The doorbell sounded again, and again, and again, sounding out some kind of rhythm that was in the mind of the person who had the device at her mercy. It sounded kind of like Rock You Like A Hurricane if Rock You Like a Hurricane were just one note being played over and over again.

As Duncan opened the door, he was greeted by a young blond-haired girl, who took a couple of seconds after the door opened to finish her beat on the doorbell.

"Hey, Duncan!" The girl said cheerfully, her face beaming.

"Uh...h-hey, Maria." Duncan stuttered. Maria was just as pretty as always.

Maria stepped into the house "Come on, let's go." She said, already on her way through the living room and towards the stairs. She offered a wave to Melissa as she passed by. "Hi Melissa!" Melissa continued to ignore the passers-by.

"Ah, wait!" Duncan said, following after Maria. As the two of them reached the stairs, they were intercepted by Duncan's mother. "Hello, Maria."

"Oh, hi Mrs. McMahon. We're just gonna hang out, okay?"

"Sure, go on ahead."

"Alright!" Maria quickly bounded up the stairs, leaving Duncan in the dust as he tried to catch up. "I said wait!"

Maria's cheerfulness caught Duncan completely off guard. It had been a little over a week since Maria's dad died. Maria seemed to disappear after that; he couldn't find her at school, and he couldn't really bring himself to go to her house. As the end of the school year approached, Maria finally approached Duncan and suggested that they hang out the day after school let out. He wondered for a while why they couldn't hang out before then, but then got his answer when his mom approached him and revealed that Maria and her mom were going to be moving away soon; two days after the end of the school year, in fact.

So this was it. This would be the last chance they'd get to be together.

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As the day continued, Duncan and Maria wound up playing video games in his room; Duncan getting completely stomped at Street Fighter. When they got tired of that, they left the house and wandered around the neighborhood. They talked, joked around, and performed the obligatory ritual of teasing Mr. Roberts' tiny, angry yapping dog as ran around his fenced-off portion of the yard, this time managing to get Mr. Roberts outside to chase them off.

It all seemed so...NORMAL. Everything they were doing, it would be the last time they'd ever do them. Tomorrow, Maria would be gone, and Duncan would be by himself again. Yet they treated it as if it were just another day; as if what was going to happen tomorrow was a million years away.

In the end, the duo found themselves at a nearby playground. The two of them hadn't been there since grade school, but that's where their wanderings had taken them. As they sat side by side on the swing sets, they continued their meandering conversation. "So Johnny just crushed the carton with his bare hands! There's was chocolate milk EVERYWHERE!"

"Hahaha, that sounds so stupid!"

"I know! He looked like a total idiot afterward."

The two kids shared a laugh, which eventually faded into silence as Duncan stared off at the rapidly setting sun. The day was almost over. It seemed to go by so quickly. The silence continued for an uncomfortable amount of time before Duncan broke the silence.

"So, you're moving to St. Paul? In Minnesota, right?"

Maria didn't answer.

"You know my email address, so we can still keep in touch."

The silence stretched on, and Duncan began to fidget.

"It's almost dark." Maria said, getting up from the swing. "I have to go home."

Duncan turned to look at Maria and found that her cheerful demeanor was gone. She too stared off at the setting sun, with a look of sadness that Duncan never would've imagined her to have.

"Listen, I..." Duncan began to speak, and Maria looked back at him. He had something he wanted to tell her; had been keeping hidden from her for a while now. He tried to say more, but the words seemed to catch in his throat and he couldn't get them out. After a few moments he just shook his head.

"...never mind."

Maria smiled. It was a smile that one could easily tell held no joy behind it. "Thanks." She said. "For all this. I just wish it didn't have to end." As she finished, the familiar cheerful look returned. "And yeah, we'll still keep in touch." She begin to walk off, waving to Duncan.

"Bye!"

"Bye."

Duncan hung his head as Maria walked off into the distance. He blew it. This was his last chance to tell her, and he blew it. This wasn't the kind of thing that could be said in an email. It was the kind of thing that had to be said in person. But he choked. He just couldn't bring himself to admit it to her.

Duncan sat there for a few more minutes before getting up and heading back home.

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Maria made his way slowly down the street, in no hurry to get home. The sun had already set, and it was starting to get dark. As she finally reached her house, she stepped through the front door.

"Why are you so late? I told you you need to be home by eight!" Maria was greeted by the stern voice of her mother from the living room, still packing.

"...sorry." Maria said simply.

"...whatever. It's okay. I ordered some take out so we wouldn't have to unpack the utensils. It's in the kitchen."

"Okay." Maria headed into the kitchen, where surely enough there was a styrofoam box containing still-warm Chinese food. Taking a seat at the table, she ate the food slowly, with sort of a far-off look on her face. From the living room, she could hear the creak of the sofa and a heavy sigh.

"Finally, it's all finished." Maria's mother said. "When you're done eating, you should get some sleep. The moving van arrives tomorrow, and it's going to be a long trip to St. Paul."

"Okay." Maria said, finishing her food after a few moments and throwing the packaging and plastic utensils in the garbage.

"G'night." Maria said as she headed up the stairs.

"Good night."

Maria made it to her room, which was completely bare, save for a bed and a stack of boxes in the corner. Walking over to the bed, she fell down onto it, staring blankly at the sheets. The minutes seemed to go by slowly, and soon her eyes began to tear up. The tearing up turned into crying, and the crying turned into sobbing.

It wasn't fair. She'd just lost her dad, and now she was going to lose everything else before she'd even finished getting over it. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to have to go to a new school in a new town and try and make new friends. She was perfectly happy with everything she had right now.

It just wasn't fair.